UPDATE: 'Everyone Was Flustered,' Toms River East Student Says Of Lockdown

(PHOTOS: A photo from inside Toms River East by Twitter user @MikeMoores24 shows police vehicles outside the school during the lockdown. Chairs stacked against a door in a classroom during the lockdown, via Twitter user @michellebilotti. By 2 p.m., things were quiet at the school but a few police cars remained in the parking lots. Karen Wall photo)

UPDATED, 5 p.m., by Karen Wall

Parents and students are breathing a sigh of relief after a suspect was arrested Friday afternoon in connection with a threat to “shoot up the school” made via social media against Toms River High School East.

The school was on lockdown for more than an hour after authorities were notified about the threat, made via the social media application Snapchat, which allows users to send and receive photos and messages that disappear after viewing, Toms River Police Department spokesman Ralph Stocco said.

• UPDATE: Suspect in school-shooting threat identified

Administrators at Toms River East were notified shortly after noon, said Tammi Millar, spokeswoman for the Toms River Regional School District, and the Toms River Police Department was notified immediately while the school was placed in “Shelter In Place,” status.

“When it first started, I thought it was just a drill,” said Kelly Mulvaney, 16, a sophomore at Toms River East. ”But then it started lasting a real long time.”

Stocco said the department responded with police, fire and EMS units “and an extensive search of the school determined it was safe.”

“Everyone kept refreshing Twitter to see what was going on” while police were searching the building, Kelly Mulvaney said, with various people posting reports of the police activity. “It was really scary.”

Millar said the lockdown was lifted at 1:20 p.m., shortly before the end of the school day at 1:35 p.m.

Mulvaney said there was confusion and relief when they were finally allowed to leave.

“Everyone was kind of flustered in the halls,” she said. “It was just so weird for everyone. We’ve never had something like that happen here.”

By 2 p.m., the parking lot and grounds at Toms River East looked like any other school day. Four Toms River police cars remained, with an unmarked car parked in front of the main entrance, but the grounds were otherwise quiet.

“I think the principal handled it well,” Mulvaney said of Toms River East Principal Patrick Thomas, who she said kept the students up to date about what was happening through PA announcements, which helped keep the students more calm.

No identifying information has been released about the suspect, whom Stocco said is being interviewed by Toms River police detectives. Social media reports indicated the suspect was a student but authorities have not confirmed that.

Snapchat, the social media smartphone application used, is a favorite among teenagers who believe the messages disappear completely. But technology experts have said the app leaves an electronic and internet trail just like most other programs and applications.

“Nothing is ever, truly deleted on a server,” notes the blog The Social U, which covers social media, in a post about Snapchat. “This is where all of those people arguing that Snapchat is “100% safe” are wrong. Especially when Snapchat says in their Privacy Policy that they may share their information about you “in response to legal process or request for information…”, amongst other reasons.”

Some parents who posted on social media were too upset to talk about the day’s events, but others expressed gratitude for the handling of the incident.

“I’m just glad that they have a protocol in place in the schools to keep the kids safe,” Dawn DeLorenzo said in a post to the Toms River Patch Facebook page. “I know as a parent even though there is a protocol in place, your heart drops when you hear that your child and his friends are in shelter mode or lockdown procedures are set in place. You just have to try and stay calm in situations and hope that the school, police and SWAT are able to do their job effectively so that no one gets hurt and everyone gets home safe. I’d just like to thank the school, police and swat for making sure my son and all the kids got home safe.”

“The Toms River Regional School District very much appreciates our strong relationship with law enforcement and the flexibility and cooperation of our High School East parents,” Millar said in a news release.

EARLIER:

A suspect was in custody Friday after a social media threat was made involving Toms River East, police said.

At 12:08 p.m., the Toms River Police Department was made aware of a threat to Toms River High School East, police.

The threat was apparently made Thursday morning via the social media outlet “Snapchat” but was not reported until Friday just after noon.

As a precaution the school was immediately placed on lockdown and police, fire and EMS units responded. An extensive search of the school determined that it was safe. The lockdown was removed and dismissal is set for 1:35 pm., police said.

Police detectives are currently interviewing a suspect and have no reason to believe that a current threat exists, police said.

This investigation is still ongoing and more information will be released as it becomes available, police said.

Looking for updates on this story and other Toms River matters? Click here.

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